


Same As Ever

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Atlantis (UK TV)
Genre: Kidnapping, Kissing, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 10:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: Pythagoras and Ariadne are having a very bad day.





	Same As Ever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deinonychus_1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deinonychus_1/gifts).



> Written as a Christmas present for the lovely deinonychus_1 who gave the prompt “I'm not entirely certain how, but I'm sure this is somehow Hercules' fault”

Pythagoras blinked and tried to work out what was going on. His most pressing concern was why the door appeared to be the wrong way up. It took him a moment to realise that the door was the right way around, and it was actually him that was the wrong way up.

“Hello?” he asked, coughing around a throat he suddenly realised was very dry. No one answered him.

He twisted his head just to confirm his hypothesis but yes, in fact it did appear that he was dangling from the ceiling by his ankles, his wrists tied behind his back in a way that wasn't exactly comfortable.

“I'm not entirely certain how,” he said, “but I'm sure this is somehow Hercules' fault.”

“You would be correct,” a voice near the edge of the room told him. He blinked, trying to see into the darkness.

“Ariadne?”

“I'm glad you're awake,” she said, "I was starting to get worried." Pythagoras blinked. “I'd untie you if I could, but I seem to be having a little problem of my own.”

Pythagoras focused his eyes on the dimly lit corner and was able to make out that Ariadne was sitting on the floor with her arms and legs tied together and attached to a metal ring next to her on the floor.

“What happened?”

“What do you remember?” she asked, and Pythagoras frowned at her obvious deflection.

“We were in the market, Jason and I were getting some food for dinner. We...were just bargaining for some bread when...someone...someone put a bag over my head!”

“Hercules apparently owes someone a lot of money. You and Jason were going to be a ransom, but Jason managed to get away -”

“Of course he did,” Pythagoras muttered.

“ - and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw them loading you into a cart and when I called to the guards, they took me too.”

“I'm going to kill him,” Pythagoras said. “What was it this time? Chickens? Cards? Beetles?”

“Snails.”

Pythagoras twisted around to look at Ariadne and he started to laugh despite himself. “He was racing snails?!”

“I don't think his snail even got off the starting line,” she said, at which point Pythagoras only started laughing the harder. Eventually Ariadne had no choice but to join in.

* * * * *

One of their captors came in once they'd stopped laughing and untied Pythagoras so that he was now the right way up and tied to the opposite wall as Ariadne. He let them both drink a little water and then went out again.

“I don't think much of the service here,” Pythagoras joked.

“You don't have to do that,” Ariadne said, “not for me.”

Pythagoras shrugged and settled down, shivering a little at the cold. Ariadne was wearing only a light sleeveless dress and though he knew she'd never complain he realised they needed to formulate a plan to get out of there sooner rather than later.

“Do you think you could untie yourself?” Ariadne asked.

Pythagoras pulled at his ropes for appearance's sake but he was certain that there was no way he'd be strong enough to loosen them.

“I don't think so. Sorry.”

Ariadne nodded. “That's all right. I think this one's getting a little looser.” She grunted and winced as she pulled at the ropes around her wrists. “I did that thing Jason told me about, straining your muscles so that they ropes loosen when you relax.”

“When did you talk about that?” Pythagoras asked, surprised.

“A few months ago. He thought I should know how to defend myself in case of kidnap. Though I'm sure this isn't quite what he had in mind. He's been worrying a lot lately.”

She looked over at Pythagoras and Pythagoras realised that he really didn't have anything to say. Since the truth had come out about Jason and his mother and everything else they'd had to deal with these last few months, a little bit of kidnapping seemed positively routine.

“I'm still going to kill Hercules.”

Ariadne smiled. “I'll help.”

They settled into a few moments of silence, broken only by the occasional hiss from Ariadne as she continued to move her wrists free of the rope. It didn't look like she'd be free before night fall, but at least it was a start, provided they didn't get interrupted by another guard. Pythagoras looked around, trying to see if there was something he could do to help, but finding no usefully sharp discarded objects.

“Why don't you tell me about triangles,” Ariadne said.

Pythagoras looked over at her in surprise. “Really? Because most people don't want to hear about it.”

“Really,” she said. “A distraction would keep my mind off the cold.”

“All right then,” Pythagoras said, pleased to have something to do, “I'll start with my latest hypothesis and then you can ask questions about anything you don't understand...”

* * * * * *

“So, if I'm understanding correctly,” Ariadne began, “this is all to do with the three sides of a right triangle?”

“That's right,” Pythagoras said. “I think that the sum of the...”

Pythagoras' words were cut off by the window high above his head shattering glass all around him.

“The rescue has arrived, I see,” Ariadne said, deadpan, as Pythagoras shook his head to get the shards out of his hair.

They could hear shouting outside and then the familiar roar of Hercules demonstrating his strength by knocking the door of the cell down completely off its hinges. Hercules was soon followed into the room by Jason and, to Pythagoras' surprise, Icarus.

“Are you both all right?” Jason asked.

Ariadne and Pythagoras looked at each other. “We've been better,” Pythagoras replied just as Ariadne asked what had taken them so long.

“That's gratitude, that this,” Hercules grumbled. “You know what armies we've had to face, and what demons we've had to slay?”

Icarus kneeled down by Pythagoras and started to cut away at the ropes. “We did nothing of the sort,” he whispered close to Pythagoras' ear, “though I doubt that will stop Hercules.”

“It's his fault we're here in the first place,” Pythagoras muttered, still annoyed at his friend. Icarus put a hand on his arm and squeezed.

“He knows. He was really worried about you. We all were.”

Icarus quickly moved to stand up and away from Pythagoras and Pythagoras awkwardly followed him up.

Jason had managed to remove Ariadne's ropes and was holding her close just as more shouts could be heard outside.

“We need to leave, quickly,” he said, reluctantly letting Ariadne go.

“I don't suppose you told the palace guards what you were doing, did you?” she asked.

Jason shrugged awkwardly. “We might not have stopped to think about it too much,” he admitted. Ariadne smiled and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Pythagoras and I are very grateful to our rescuers,” she said, looking significantly at Pythagoras and then at Icarus.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pythagoras said quickly, pushing Icarus towards the door. “We have to get back home.”

Icarus let himself be manoeuvred outside into the corridor and then turned to push Pythagoras up against the wall. Before Pythagoras could say anything Icarus was kissing him quiet.

They were interrupted by Hercules wolf-whistling and a grinning Jason and Ariadne.

“Hercules has a lot to answer for, doesn't he?” Ariadne asked, feigning innocence.

Pythagoras just gave a long-suffering sigh. He was never going to hear the end of this. But, as Icarus took Pythagoras by the hand and they all started to move out of the cells, he supposed there were worse problems to have.


End file.
